Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right by Rosie Steppe

Chapter 897

+25 BONUS

“Afraid I’ll steal their jobs?” Hayden teased, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“They’re just curious,” Keira replied, watching him deftly sand the wood. “How do you know how to do all this? Have you done it before?”

Hayden paused his work. “Yeah, I’ve done all this before.”

Keira handed him a bottle of water, brushing the wood shavings off his face as she sat beside him. “Don’t tell me you used to make a living doing this.”

Hayden took a sip of water. “I did. I made money this way to pay for my tuition and cover Yuna’s medical bills. Otherwise, my mom would’ve had too much to bear on her own.”

Hearing him mention this, Keira couldn’t help but think about the deaths of his father and my parents.

But those things were in the past. Instead, Keira focused on his age back then. “You couldn’t have been very old at the time, right?”

“Eleven or twelve,” Hayden said. “But I was already tall—just skinny. When I went to construction sites, people thought I was fifteen or sixteen and gave me work. But because I was young, they’d cut my pay. So my solution was to work smarter, to take on tasks others couldn’t handle. That way, I had leverage.”

As he spoke, Hayden gazed into the distance, as if he could see himself in those younger, relentless years.

His words brought back memories of her own childhood. While Keira had lost her parents, she was taken in by the Johnston family, where the Johnston couple cared for her, and Jace and Wayne always looked out for her.

they’d spoiled her

caused by their actions, they had tried to make amends. Compared to Hayden, Keira was fortunate.

part of why you resent the Harts,”

come back or even called. Maybe Hayden had

the Hart family. Sooner or later, he’d have to for himself, and for the sake of

go

back-

as they don’t force you to marry someone else,” Keira said,

lips curling into a

Chapter 897

+25 BONUS

as it doesn’t threaten your interests, you’re willing to give the green light, huh?”

make things hard for you. Don’t be ungrateful, Mr. Hart,” Keira said, mimicking his gesture by tapping his

your energy on fixing up this

“”

be my ultimate dream,” Keira said, gazing at the now–cleared courtyard, still shabby

asked, his tone soft but curious, “why did you suddenly want

looked up at the sky. “Do you remember when we went back to your hometown and you took me to that place in the middle of the